Who's Running for President, Anyway?

Is she really that scary, America? Is her story really that far away from what Americans like to think of as "the American Dream?" This quote from the New York Times' article on is the one that grabbed me the most:

"Before her husband announced his candidacy, Mrs. Obama confided in friends: Barack and I will cut an unfamiliar figure to most of America.

"It?s such uncharted waters," said Verna Williams, a Harvard classmate and friend. "In a sound-bite era, where you have to come with a quick and dirty take, she doesn't fit what it means to be an African-American woman."

Probably because it's the quote that seems to sum up so much of my life as well. And it's still weird to me that someone like Michelle, and someone like me, could be considered "unfamiliar" to the rest of America.

I've mentioned before that I'm disgusted by the attacks on Michelle Obama, but I wanted to take a moment to point out the fact that they fit a familiar pattern: ever since Bill Clinton ran for president, one of the Republicans' campaign strategies has been to attack the candidate's wife.

Remember how 1992-era Hillary Clinton was deemed "offensive" to American women because she didn't want to stay home and bake cookies? Remember how Teresa Heinz Kerry was not just an "elitist," because of her fortune (something we're just not hearing about heiress Cindy McCain) but also "not completely American" because she had (gasp!) spent her childhood abroad?

I'm not sure why the Democrats haven't lashed into the Republican wives—between Laura Bush's frozen smile and Cindy McCain's former pill-popping habit, Lord knows they'd have enough material. It's fine to take the high road, but it's also time to put a stop to this. Malia and Sasha Obama don't deserve to see their mother treated this way.

Do you think the attacks on Michelle Obama have gone too far? And if you were in her shoes, how would you handle it?